


game master

by CyanCheetah



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Card Games, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Games, Haruno Sakura-centric, Magical Artifacts, Mystery, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-23 19:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20345095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyanCheetah/pseuds/CyanCheetah
Summary: Sakura made a wrong turn. Sakura made a very wrong turn. Before Sakura can rush back into the brightly lit streets, however, she hears a voice.“Would you like to play a special game?”





	game master

Sakura made a wrong turn. Sakura made a very wrong turn.

In her desire to observe the village of Konoha, the young girl wandered the streets searching for something to capture her attention. Sakura is an adult now, technically, as the gleaming_ hitai-ate_ on her forehead shows, so she can do so without much to stop her – aside from her parents, but they’re sleeping.

She follows back streets and alleyways, occasionally pausing to assess her surroundings before continuing with her own bullheaded curiosity. Eventually, she stumbles right into the red light district. Sakura only notices this when suspiciously decorated shops with equally odd names begin to pop up along the larger roads, and people scantily clothed strut pass without care. Bright lights flicker everywhere in a mirage of color that blurs Sakura’s vision.

The girl escapes into one of the smaller alleys and leans against the wall to gather her bearings. _So this is the red light district_, she thinks, quietly taking in the dealings along the street and shivering at the implications.

Sakura should probably leave. It’s definitely time to go home, hideaway under her covers, and pray that her parents stay clueless to her midnight adventures. Before Sakura can rush back into the brightly lit streets, however, she hears a voice.

“Oh? What’s a dearie like you doing in this part of Konoha?”

Sakura swivels around and steps back into the alley. Under one of the weak lights attached to the wall, she spots an elderly woman seated behind a red table. Her hair is gray and long, curling over her shoulder and spilling onto the table. The table itself is full of odd… _trinkets_. Sakura sees a few different card decks, some dice of various coloring, and other items that seem to gravitate toward a particular theme.

Sakura forgets herself momentarily and ignores the elderly woman’s question in favor of asking her own. “Games?”

“Yes, dear.” The woman answers with a smile, beckoning Sakura closer. “These are very special games.”

As Sakura steps under the light with the elderly woman, she notices something strange. All of the different items, which presumably function as games pieces, are metal. Metal dice? Metal _cards_? She reaches for the card deck and the woman quickly snatches them away. Sakura blinks.

“Why are they metal?”

The elderly woman hums thoughtfully at her curiosity while thumbing through the deck of metal playing cards. They seem to glitter under her touch, but Sakura brushes that off as the shine of the light. The woman sets them down again and instead picks up the dice, rolling them around in her palm before lightly throwing them onto the table. The dice land on a one and a two.

“Three.” Sakura says aloud. “What of it?”

The woman picks the dice up and breathes before her palm begins to emit… light? It’s blue. Sakura thinks it’s chakra. The elderly woman speaks up to answer the unspoken question.

“Chakra. This is chakra.”

The metal dice bubble in her hand and melt into a gray-ish puddle before reforming into a different shape. It’s…

“Three. Three kunai.” Sakura says, eyes wide, with an undercurrent of wonder lacing her words. “How – ”

“These are very special games.” The woman repeats. She activates her chakra again before the three shiny kunai revert into their original form, a pair of two metal die. “You know my secret. Too curious, too stupid.”

Confusion crosses Sakura’s face, tinged with apprehensive fear. Sakura slowly steps backward in preparation for a sprint. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, come now, Sakura dear,” The woman smiles, but it is not kind. “You wished to know. You’ve asked so many questions. It’s my turn now, is it not?”

* * *

...

<strike> **“Would you like to play a special game?”** </strike>


End file.
